After acquiring the High Desert Power Plant in California, the private equity firm Middle River Power identified cyber threats to its operational technology (OT) assets as a critical risk. Limited visibility, evolving cyber threats and compliance challenges made it difficult to detect and respond to incidents effectively. To improve detection and response capabilities without disrupting operations, the company sought a comprehensive monitoring solution.

Middle River Power collaborated with Siemens Energy to deploy managed detection and response (MDR) services at the plant. Siemens Energy’s analysts, operating from a remote security operations centre (SOC), leverage machine learning and OT expertise to continuously monitor and analyse data, enabling rapid detection of potential anomalies.

Moreover, MDR helps Middle River Power to accurately determine which systems have been compromised in the event of an incident. The implementation of MDR also supports regulatory compliance by providing structured security reporting and audit-ready documentation.

One immediate benefit of MDR was the early detection of an operational issue – an on-site historian that periodically overheated and rebooted. The system flagged this anomaly, enabling plant operators to resolve the issue before it escalated. Beyond identifying vulnerabilities, MDR allowed Middle River Power to accelerate incident response, reduce downtime and improve compliance efficiency, ultimately increasing the plant’s cyber resilience.